You need to rest. Screwed me out of 2 Notables during your shift. The second time articles posted, using same source, got the Notable. Thanks!
You're not a very good Baker!
Appreciate it….just frustrated. Even sent proof of my previous post in bread before bun was baked. Oh well.
Israel boycott fight roils Democrats in year-end spending debate
A bipartisan group of lawmakers is scrambling at the eleventh hour to include controversial language in a year-end spending bill prohibiting U.S. companies from joining boycotts of Israel launched by the United Nations or similar groups.
Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) and other members are pressing congressional leaders to attach his Israel anti-boycott legislation to a sweeping omnibus spending package — a move that could complicate efforts to prevent a government shutdown.
“There is bipartisan interest in this issue, but everything is still being negotiated and nothing has been decided,” said one senior House Republican aide.
Supporters of the measure say it would simply expand an existing prohibition on companies participating in anti-Israel boycotts led by foreign governments to those orchestrated by international governmental organizations (IGOs).
“We don’t want our companies to be forced into implementing other countries’ decisions to boycott U.S. allies,” said a Cardin spokesperson.
But the provision has been hammered by human rights and free speech groups, which contend the proposal prioritizes the concerns of a foreign government over constitutionally guaranteed First Amendment protections. Those protections, the critics maintain, include the right to participate in the so-called boycott, divestment, sanctions movement (BDS) — an international campaign designed to press Israel on human rights issues surrounding the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict — regardless who is coordinating those activities.
“This bill sets a precedent for penalizing First Amendment actions because they’re unpopular or because the government doesn’t agree with them,” said Manar Waheed, senior legislative and advocacy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
“This is a step on a road to the erosion of First Amendment rights in a way that will impact movements and viewpoints for the future.”
A decision to attach the language to an enormous, year-end spending bill is sure to stir controversy, particularly on the Democratic side of the aisle, where a number of liberal lawmakers have accused Israel of human rights abuses amid the decades-long Palestinian conflict.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) sounded a warning last week that congressional leaders are working serendipitously “to slip language into a must-pass spending bill that criminalizes politically motivated boycotts against Israel.”
“The Israel Anti-Boycott Act violates our right to free speech,” McCollum tweeted.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/421945-israel-boycott-fight-roils-democrats-in-year-end-spending-debate
Contract worker sues school district after losing job for refusing to sign pro-Israel pledge
A speech pathologist who served as a contract employee in Texas is suing the school district she once worked for, arguing that a state law forcing her to sign a pro-Israel pledge violates her First amendment rights.
Bahia Amawi had provided pathology services and speech therapy for children under 5 since 2009 at Pflugerville Independent School District, according to The Dallas Morning News.
The newspaper noted that a contract renewal for her in August included a clause demanding that she agree to not boycott Israel. Amawi, an American citizen of Palestinian descent who was born in Austria, declined to sign it.
Amawi said the clause violated her First and 14th Amendment rights in a lawsuit filed against both the district and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton by the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
The Morning News noted that Amawi stopped working with the district after officials explained to her that they couldn't work with anyone who didn't accept the clause.
In 2017, Texas passed a law that forbid government agencies, including public schools, from contracting with anybody who didn't agree to the pledge not to boycott Israel, The Morning News reported.
Boycotting is described as "refusing to deal with, terminating business activities with, or otherwise taking any action that is intended to penalize, inflict harm on, or limit commercial relations specifically with Israel, or with a person or entity doing business in Israel or in an Israeli-controlled territory," according to the law.
The newspaper noted that 26 states have enacted similar legislation.
The Washington Post noted that Amawi's lawsuit is seeking an injunction that cuts the "No boycott of Israel" clause from school contracts. It also asks for the clause to be cut from other state contracts.
"It's baffling that they can … decide to protect another country's economy vs. protect our constitutional rights," Amawi told The Intercept, adding that "the point of boycotting any products that support Israel is to put pressure on the Israeli government to change its treatment, the inhumane treatment of the Palestinian people."
Pflugerville ISD addressed the lawsuit on Facebook on Monday, saying that “unfortunately, Pflugerville ISD and all Texas school districts are at the mercy of the state and the regulations printed into law, and in situations such as this, we are forced to spend time on state political issues and not on our core mission — educating students."
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/421939-contract-worker-sues-school-district-after-losing-job-for